Hi everyone, another potentially stupid question from me.

At some point I'm going to be building a midi control surface which will have a few sliders and a couple dozen pots. The pots are pcb-mount. Has anyone used these in their stompboxes? I realize they're not going to be as good as the standard types, but I will have a few left over, and I can order some other values and taper types when I order these.

I know that it doesn't pay to skimp on quality, but the price difference is enough so that I could have a surplus on hand if I need to replace one or start another project. I'm also not too rough with knobs and often find a setting I like and leave the knobs untouched.

I know I'd have to be careful, and I have a feeling it isn't a great idea, but has anyone found a way to use these?

I've used quite a few thousand of those little Alps "snap-in" PCB mount pots in my stompboxes, with very few failures (the few failures were people shearing the shafts by kicking the box sideways).
I typically have six pots, with bushes, and use them to hold the main board in place. There aren't any heavy components on the board.
There are some inferior versions of these pots (sample vailable on request!) but the Alps ones have been fine.
The alternative approach, having the board itself mounted by standoffs with the pot shafts poking thru the case, can cause problems when people stomp the knob into pieces & the shaft is forced back thru the board.
Now I personally coldn't beat up on a box like this in a million yrears, but I guess I am short of angst, though clumsy as a three legged ox in a sack race.

What kind of pcb mounted pots are shown in this photo?  They seem to work well...



-Jack

I think ZVex uses PC Mount pots in at least a couple of his pedals.

Jack, the pots in the pic look like a knock-off of the Vishay 149 series PCB mounted Cermet. But I can't say for sure..

Quote from: mattvI think ZVex uses PC Mount pots in at least a couple of his pedals.

the fuzz facotry i saw had them

Quote from: travisskThe pots are pcb-mount. Has anyone used these in their stompboxes? I realize they're not going to be as good as the standard types

I've always used PCB mount (alpha) in my boxes and have had no problems to date.  They're 'as good' as anything else out there as far as I'm concerned.